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Letter from Benjamin Winchester, 18 September 1841

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Letter from Benjamin Winchester, 18 September 1841

Source Note

, Letter, , Philadelphia Co., PA, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 18 Sept. 1841; handwriting of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamps, dockets, and notation.
Bifolium measuring 9⅝ × 7⅝ inches (24 × 19 cm). The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, then sealed with a red adhesive wafer, addressed, and stamped with postmarks. The letter was later refolded for filing and docketed. There is some wear and tear along the folds, and a small hole is visible on the second leaf. The second leaf bears residue from the red adhesive wafer used to seal the letter. A pamphlet, titled An Address to the Citizens of Salem and Vicinity, was originally enclosed with the letter. This pamphlet is no longer preserved with the letter; however, a copy of it is archived in the Church History Library.
Three dockets appear on the verso of the second leaf. , who served as JS’s personal scribe beginning in late 1841, inscribed a docket on the letter in its original trifolded state. A graphite notation was later added, apparently by a clerk or secretary for Andrew Jenson, who served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. Another unidentified Church Historian’s Office staff member inscribed a graphite notation indicative of manuscript filing methods used in the Church Historian’s Office during the same period. The letter is listed in a Church Historian’s Office inventory from circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The dockets, notation, inventory, and inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody of the letter since its receipt.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 48–55.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  2. [2]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, 1, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  3. [3]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

Having just returned to from a mission in , Massachusetts, wrote a letter to JS on 18 September 1841, asking to be excused from another missionary assignment to the same place. Winchester had presided over the Philadelphia of the since April 1840 and had served a number of proselytizing missions in the eastern , including the one to Salem, which he served with from July to early September 1841. On 16 August 1841 a special church held in , Illinois, called Winchester to serve another mission in Salem with Snow. Citing his poor health, impoverished circumstances, and confidence in Snow’s independent preaching abilities, Winchester asked in the letter featured here to be relieved from his new missionary assignment. In addition to this request, Winchester provided his observations on , who had recently come to Philadelphia.
The letter featured here is the original sent from and received by JS in , likely a couple of weeks after it was mailed in on 18 September 1841.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Snow, Journal, 1841–1847, 3–13. For more on Benjamin Winchester’s role in the Philadelphia branch, see Philadelphia Branch Record Book, 6 Apr. and 14 Dec. 1840; 6 Apr. 1841; Benjamin Winchester, Philadelphia, PA, 10 Feb. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, May 1840, 1:104; and Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 22 Nov. 1839.

    Snow, Erastus. Journals, 1835–1851; 1856–1857. CHL. MS 1329, box 1, fds. 1–3.

    Philadelphia Branch, Record Book, 1840–1854. CCLA.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  2. [2]

    Minutes, 16 Aug. 1841.

  3. [3]

    For more information on John E. Page and his travels, see Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841.

livelyhood I should like it very much There is much printing to do in and as I am prety well <​somewhat​> acquainted with that buisness perhaps you could get me a situation of that kind
is here and talks of staying till spring but whether he will or not a I cannot tell neither do I care for it not any of my business All I have to say is that the way the repremand given in the “Times and Seasons” is explained away is a caution it amounts to this the Lord and you were mistaken H[e] pretends that he has not got mon[ey] enough; to this, I say he had money enough according to his own state ment when he arrived here first to overtake in or which he might <​have​> done had he been expeditious And he says that has enough to bear the expenses of them both I think that he has given up the idea of overtaking in Europe but thinks of sed a going immediately to without passing through the interior of Europe dont understand me that I wish to accuse to you for I do not— It seems to me that will be on his way back before gets there [p. [3]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Benjamin Winchester, 18 September 1841
ID #
687
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:276–280
Handwriting on This Page
  • Benjamin Winchester

Footnotes

  1. [12]

    Page expressed similar expectations about the length of his stay in his 1 September letter to JS. (Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841.)

  2. [13]

    The reprimand referenced by Winchester here refers to the notice printed in the 15 January 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons, which stated: “Elders Orson Hyde and John E. Page are informed, that the Lord is not well pleased with them in consequence of delaying their mission, (Elder John E. Page in particular,) and they are requested by the First Presidency to hasten their journey towards their destination.” (Notice, Times and Seasons, 15 Jan. 1841, 2:287.)

  3. [14]

    Page made similar statements about his and Hyde’s financial situations in a 1 September 1841 letter to JS. (Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841.)

  4. [15]

    Page had previously expressed a lack of confidence in Winchester. (See Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841.)

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